Janagaraj is one of the few comedians of Tamil cinema, who quit acting though he was at his peak. Whether it is a comedy or a supporting role, he played that with equal finesse. During his period, Janagaraj gave rigorous competition to Goundamani and Senthil. He has over 100 Tamil movies to his credit.

Born during the year 1955, Janagaraj was initially a stage artist and a theater artist. It was during the year 1971 that Janagaraj aimed to work in movies. He got small roles in several films of ace director K Balachander. Later in 1977 the film Sevuppu Villu made the audience to notice him.

Right from Nizhalgal, his other films including Mudhal Vasantham, Palaivana Rojakkal, Apoorva Pirargal, Rajadhi Raja, Sindhu Bhairavi, Agni Natchathiram, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Roja and Kizhaku Vasal earned him a good name that he rightly deserves. In fact, Janagaraj was seen in most of Rajinikanth’s and Kamal Haasan’s movies in 80s and 90s. Janagaraj’s performance in Nayagan was very much appreciated.

Nayagan, Baasha, and Annamalai are the films which provided fodder to Janagaraj’s character roles. He was also seen in the films in early 2000, including Aayutha Ezhuthu, King, and M Kumaran S/o Mahalakshmi.

Janagaraj experimented with different roles and was successful in his attempt. He was seen in most of Maniratnam’s films and he gave stellar performances in all these films. Janagaraj maintained his individual style of acting and never copied other comedians.

Other than acting, Janagaraj is interested in music. The voice of Janagaraj is his strength, it is considered as an inspiration for many mimicry artists. In fact, he has also sung for some films in Kollywood. Janagaraj has his interest in classical drama and dance. The body language of Janagaraj has gained him much appreciation. Janagaraj rarely uses unwanted language in films.

Janagaraj maintains good rapport with another Tamil actor Delhi Ganesh.

Though he is highly talented, he is not seen in films nowadays. When contacted him, he revealed that his son is very rich; he doesn’t want his father to act.